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Dubai: Motorists living in the paid parking zones will be given discounts on their car parking fees near their homes, said a senior official.
Click here to see the paid parking areas in Dubai (pdf)
"We are working on a plan to introduce a special discounted card for residents to park their cars near their houses in the controlled parking zones," said Najeeb Al Zarouni, Director of the Parking Department at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He told Gulf News although there would be no reserved parking for residents, they would have the option of parking the car in the paid park zone close to their homes by using special discounted paid parking cards.
Although the percentage of discount has still not been finalised, he said it would be considerably less than the existing tariff and would be valid on a yearly membership.
"We at the Parking Department are working with our customers and not against them for our aim is to regulate the parking system to ease parking woes for them," he said.
Al Zarouni said that the department was working on a number of plans following international best practices to bring positive changes to the parking system to improve the image of the city.
Meanwhile, the Parking Department has plans to expand the paid parking zone in eight communities in the city. Around 10,000 more free parking spaces will be turned into a paid parking zone by the end of 2008 as part of the Phase 9 of the RTA Controlled Parking Zones Project.
Dubai had around 50,000 paid parking spaces last year and around 16,000 were added up to this month as part of Phase 8 of the project bringing the total number to around 66,000 paid parking spaces.
By the end of this year, the total number of paid parking spaces will be increased to about 76,000 in the city. Around 508 parking meters will be installed in 12 communities as part of the project.
The RTA will also upgrade some 1,600 old type parking machines to enable them to cater to multiple types of e-payment cards.
The paid parking system started in the Central Business District (CBD) of Deira in 1995 with the installation of 40 parking meters and it has been continually extended in phases to areas outside the CBD to cope with the parking needs as the city grew in terms of population, buildings and vehicles. With the completion of the new project, there will be around 3,308 parking meters in the city.
"The increasing number of vehicles on Dubai's roads has created the need for more parking areas across the city. Paid parking zones will allow for orderly and safe parking," said Al Zarouni.
Paid parking: New areas
Al Karama, Street 308 (road parallel to Shaikh Zayed Road behind Holiday Inn), Road near International Convention Centre, Jumeirah Road, Al Quoz Industrial Area on Shaikh Zayed Road, Al Hudaiba, Al Raffah, Hor Al Anz, Al Rasheed Road, Al Baraha, Al Mamzar Road and Al Garhoud.
Fines and illegal parking
A motorist gets a parking fine of Dh200 in case of illegal parking. This fine can be issued round the clock even on holidays regardless of paid parking times.
The illegal parking fine is issued if a vehicle is parked in a space reserved for the disabled, in bus bays, in yellow boxes, in loading and unloading areas, on footpaths and walkways and double parking
The fine for parking without paying the fee is Dh150 and exceeding the permissible parking time is Dh100.
Do you face difficulty finding a parking space near your home? How do you think this move would help solve the current parking crisis?
Your comments
Municipality should try and build a parking building to ease parking for shoppers and residents, this way it will be more profitable for the municipality and offer more and easy parking spots.
Sobia
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 11:52
What about motorbike owners? Do we get fined for parking on a pavement?
Warren
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 11:08
I do not mind paying full charge for the parking ,and I don?t want any discounts, but please provide a parking instead of discounts.
rajesh
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 11:08
Request the authorities to construct a multi storey paid parking zone in Karama,
Maroof
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 10:51
People don't mind paying but the problem still remains.There are not enough parking spaces to park even if we want to pay.We are forced to park on the footpath at night because there is no parking space anywhere.
Fariha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 10:29
Great move by RTA .But where are the parking spaces to park in Bur Dubai
Karthik
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 10:03
The overall parking space amount is comparatively less than the number of cars, therefore, even if we have paid for parking cards, if we reach home after 10pm then you cannot imagine getting a parking space. We are then forced to either double park or park on footpaths. Respected authorities should first provide the facility then put a fine if people do not comply.
Agha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 22, 2008, 08:09
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